Ratha (Indian Chariot) Project

[Takhisis]

Hope the light wasn't too bright in the big blue room. Welcome back.

I came back looking like a shrimp. lotsa bands of red and white due to porr understanding on how sunblock should be applied.

There are plenty of horse models around (in .obj format I believe). So since those can be imported I wouldn't bother making them. Just the shafts/pole for them to pull the ratha by.

Well, I'll see what I can find, but...

The chattra can be thought of as rigid - it doesn't need to be treated as cloth in terms of movement. So the only cloth part is the pennant. A long narrow flexible triangle shouldn't be too hard to model.

There's too much "shouldn't be" for my peace of mind in there.

Please take your time. It will be quite a while before I'm ready to use it - even though I'm chomping at the bit to see what you come up with.

This is an early preview of a train i've been working on out of sheer pleasure. if I find any surviving pieces of my War Elephant, which was lost to a tensions spike alongside my old comp, it will be a nicer appetizer. Here you are:

 

[Takhisis]

I recommend that you become a forumwarrior in the meantime. Toodles!

 

[Blue Monkey]

Need someone to make a I can try doing one in Blender, but just the chariot and maybe the weapons. I'm not good at animals.
No harm in trying...

I thought you were only going to make the ratha. If you want to incororate the horses I'll do what I can to find a free model for you.

I also have had the impression that you were building a model for someone else to animate. Are you now considering doing the animation as well?

chitchat:

Spoiler :

That train is amazing. I'd be ashamed to show you the train model I built for my midterm exam. The upside was that the point was to build it & animate it in 2.5 hours. The animation earned an A.

I'd like to see even partial models of an elephant.

 

[Takhisis]

I thought you were only going to make the ratha. If you want to incororate the horses I'll do what I can to find a free model for you.

I also have had the impression that you were building a model for someone else to animate. Are you now considering doing the animation as well?

No, no, no. I mistyped that post, there's a piece missing from it. What I'll do is find some not-too complex horse model, open it and save is a a .blend file, then add a cart to it. If need be, I'll decimate the thing or remove doubles in order to get less vertices.

That train is amazing. I'd be ashamed to show you the train model I built for my midterm exam. The upside was that the point was to build it & animate it in 2.5 hours. The animation earned an A.

Well, yes, my train has way over 200000 vertices (~125000 just for the coals, logs and bricks in the cargo ) and took weeks to be done. It's currently on hold due to university (I have to read around 1200 pages on Semiology, Saussure et al )
but I can start on the chariot anyway. Actually, I could just copy one of the train wagons and tweak it a little.
Anywho, I'll leave the animating to someone else, I'll just make a model of it. Is it Ok if I make the occupants have mittens instead of hands with fingers? It won't show in Civ III scale.

I'd like to see even partial models of an elephant.

I found these two, but I can't find any models. I installed a new version of Blender without doing backups and messed up somewhere, so I lost ickle Dumbokins.

One mahout, one archer, one javelineer. Archers, javelineers and their gear could be duplicated easily. The blue parts were going to be civ-colour. The metal parts were in a chromy texture which was soooo cool. Aaahhh... what memories... I did that lil' elephant in October-November 2008.

 

[Blue Monkey]

It's currently on hold due to university (I have to read around 1200 pages on Semiology, Saussure et al )

I thought I was the only one here who knew about semiotics (except maybe Plotinus). My (unfinished) dissertation was about the semiology of virtual environments. If you don't have it, get the Glossary of Semiotics. Invaluable!

Anywho, I'll leave the animating to someone else, I'll just make a model of it. Is it Ok if I make the occupants have mittens instead of hands with fingers? It won't show in Civ III scale.

If it's easier use the paperdoll post here. It has mittens & is proportioned to match the firaxis units.

 

[Takhisis]

I have to read the ~1200 pages in Spanish , and as I'm currently living in Buenos Aires of all places, I can't get that book delivered without paying intermediaries and getting a couple weeks' delay.
March 1st at 9:00 AM local time (GMT -3) are D-Day and H-Hour, or, rather, S-Day and S-Hour). I'll check it out tomorrow and see if I can get it on time. I remember when I wanted to get Laxdaela Saga sent over, took around a month.
But thanks for the tip anyway.

 

[Yang Liu]

My BETA version of an ancient indian Chariot. (King Poros)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8800110#post8800110

H.Balck

 

[Blue Monkey]

The ratha itself doesn't match any of the source material I have available. The number of riders is not accurate. The clothing is completely wrong. But thanks for the effort. You're welcome to contribute to this project if you want to work with the design parameters we've laid out.

 

[Yang Liu]

I am to be produced gladly ready the horses for the Ratha.

H.Balck

 

[Takhisis]

Don't worry, a ratha made by yours truly will come up. But first I've got to arrange for ISBN 1557785023 to be delivered here, preferably before February.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Don't worry, a ratha made by yours truly will come up. But first I've got to arrange for ISBN 1557785023 to be delivered here, preferably before February.

Since I'm hoping to ultimately have a set of 3 (a whole upgrade line), plus a special or 2, there are plenty of opportunities for everyone. (Hear that Quinzy & Michaelus?)

OT: Speaking of the book, I noticed that Buenos Aires is ranked above Los Angeles as a world-class city. I'm surpised there's not an English language bookstore that can get it for you quicker.

 

[Takhisis]

Yesterday's on the left, and this how we stand now (right pic).

Tomorrow i'll give the oor guy some feet and add a yoke and try doing a horse.

 

[Yang Liu]

Takhisis :
For wich game do you produce this one ? CivIII or Legoland ?

H.Balck

 

[Takhisis]

Takhisis :
For wich game do you produce this one ? CivIII or Legoland ?

H.Balck

I'm sorry, I've been going on this theme with blue monkey by Pm, but I did a screw-up and had to start anew.
Oh, and, by the way, I'm producing it for Civ III and not for your personal use.

 

[Takhisis]

The grey guy is just a placeholder for scale reference.

 

[Steph]

Takhisis :
For wich game do you produce this one ? CivIII or Legoland ?

H.Balck

Moderator Action: Yang Liu I suppose your very first unit or the very first step of a new unit is not better. Some people here may not stand constructive criticism very well, but others may like to post very early screenshots to get feedback as soon as possible. You don't have to make unkind comment such as yours because you don't use the same design process.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Blue Monkey]

I truly appreciate you being brave enough to post a WIP so early in the process. I hope it will be of use to you to let me have so much input into the design as it develops.

It's hard to tell from the front view, but I think the proportions look about right. I'd suggest:

• Having the walls curve down to meet the floor at the back. Look at image A & imagine it without a back wall. The curve there is much more elaborate than you need to do, but it should give you an idea.
• Almost all the versions I've seen have a chattra with a slight curve to it. Michaelus got this right on the mark (image B).
• I only included C to suggest what a cloth chattra on an early era or light ratha might look like.
• D is another take on what a single rear support post might look like.
• Much as I think R:TW includes inauthentic oversimplified graphics, E is suggestive what a chattra might look like in a workable heavy ratha unit.

thumbnail

 

[Takhisis]

Are the scales right?

I just put in those dummies in a hurry, for scale comparison. Should any of the parts be larger/smaller in relation to any or all of the others? Should the chariot be longer/shorter? Are the wheels in the right place? Should the parapet be taller? btw, I added feet, and my generic helmet™ and kilt™ as common references as well.
Moar coming soon™¹.
EDIT: Crap! Crosspost!

_______________________________
(1)"Soon" is a registered trademark of Blizzard, Inc. All rights reserved. Used without permission from Blizzard, Inc.

 

[Takhisis]

Hey, that's right, I could take a look at R:TW's chariots for it, but there's no 4-wheel chariot in there, IIRC.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Are the scales right?
I just put in those dummies in a hurry, for scale comparison. Should any of the parts be larger/smaller in relation to any or all of the others? Should the chariot be longer/shorter? Are the wheels in the right place? Should the parapet be taller?

Overall the scale is right. The front wall of the ratha should come up about waist high (not hip high as it looks now) - keep them in the chariot but not restrict use of the bow. The length & wheel placement look good - I think if the back part of the walls curves down it'll be just about right. The chattra is about the right diameter. On the other hand it is too low. Imagine a warrior wearing a helmet & drawing a bow under one of those big resort parasols without it restricting his movement & you'll get the idea.

Hey, that's right, I could take a look at R:TW's chariots for it, but there's no 4-wheel chariot in there, IIRC.

I don't like them, except for some elements of the chattra.

I'm afraid that's all I can do for tonight. If you post more work you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow for further response. Thanks again!